ENGAGE 365, VOLUME TWO:
Get To Know God’s People
Edited by Alison Mitchell and
Sarah Hughes
Good Book Company. 400 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 784 988 821
As we seek resources for younger generations to help them study and understand the Bible for themselves, Engage 365 is a great resource for them to do just that.
Aimed at teenagers, the book goes through a selection of Bible books (this volume looks at Old Testament characters including Joshua, Ruth, Nehemiah, Daniel and Jonah; and New Testament books written by Matthew, Paul and Peter). Each Bible book has a page introducing it, giving helpful information to ground the book in Bible and salvation history.
The strength of these notes is how they look at consecutive sections of God’s word, so the reader can get to grips with the text and see how it fits together. Each day’s notes encourage the reading of the relevant passage (at most one and a half chapters) then give some questions to help the reader begin to understand it.
This is followed by some brief notes on the passage and then a suggestion for prayer, for application or a summary (‘The Bottom Line’). This helps the reader take action on what they have read and see its relevance to their life. There is space in the outer margin to write notes, allowing for personal reflection on the passage or any helpful insights to be noted down.
The book would be ideal both for those who have never read the Bible for themselves (the Introduction explains how they could begin to do this) or for those who wish to dig deeper into the Bible on their own. Whilst the intended audience might be teenagers, this would be a great resource for a new Christian of any age. The 365 readings can obviously be used for a year’s Bible reading, but the readings are undated, removing the pressure if a day is missed or allowing the reader to jump into different books as they wish.
With a realistic amount to read and think about each day, Engage 365 allows the reader to truly engage with God’s word – which is the book we ultimately want to be reading!
